The Orb Audio Mod1 stereo speakers sound incredible when paired with the company's companion Super Eight subwoofer, but on their own, they're not quite full-range.

In New York City, it's tough to find stereo speakers that look good and work well in a small apartment. The Orb Audio Mod1 ($239 per pair, direct) speaker set comes closer than most, with unique round enclosures available in a variety of eye-catching finishes. The speakers also sounds surprisingly transparent, with a particularly convincing stereo image and natural sounding midrange. Just be advised that this system is screaming for a subwoofer, and works well enough without one, but only for certain genres of music.

Concept and DesignI tested what's known as the Mod1 Quick Pack, which includes a pair of Mod1 speakers at $239. You can also get single Orb Audio Mod1s for $119.50 each, or as part of the Classic One system ($549.00) which includes two Mod1s and the Super Eight powered subwoofer.

Orb Audio handcrafts all Mod1 speakers right here in the U.S., and the company's products are modular. There are a variety of upgrade packages that let you build a home theater full of Mod1s, or even upgrade the Mod1 to a dual-driver Mod2 (essentially two Mod1s stacked together), without having to buy them that way in the beginning; the combination delivers more power handling and ever-so-slightly extended frequency response.

At the base price, you can get the Mod1 for $239 in either metallic black or pearl white. Extra-cost finishes include Hammered Earth ($115 extra for the pair), as well as antiquated copper or bronze ($130 extra) or polished steel ($130 extra), some of which come with upgraded stand options. Orb Audio sent us an Orb in each of these finishes. To my eye, they all look roughly the same in person as they do on the company's website. And the three $130 finishes all look and feel more expensive and substantial. I wasn't quite as taken with the "Hammered Earth" finish, because it just felt like textured plastic even though it was metal, although the look is certainly, well, earthy.

Whichever speakers you choose, the company promises a 30-day home trial and just $9 for shipping costs. That makes it easy to audition them in your home, where you can get a much better idea of their look and sound quality than in any store environment.

Performance and ConclusionsI tested the Mod1 pair with the Orb Audio Booster, the company's diminutive, 20-watt-per-channel desktop amplifier, both with and without the Super Eight powered subwoofer attached. The Mod1 delivers stellar sound—just not quite enough of it. The bass rolloff below roughly 100Hz is so sharp that there's essentially no audible punch—and certainly none that you can feel.

The high range, on the other hand, is excellent. Inside the Mod1 is a design that's unusual for this class of speaker. Instead of including a separate woofer and tweeter, it employs a single full-range driver. Full-range drivers are notorious for poor high treble performance, and yet the Mod1 seems to escape that pitfall entirely. I heard more of a sense of air with the Mod1 than I've heard on countless other speaker systems.

With the Super Eight engaged as part of the system, the overall sound was exemplary. In Muse's "Uprising" and the band's more electronic-inspired "Undisclosed Desires," the powerful low end had plenty of punch, and I could still easily distinguish the bass guitar from the kick drum. The vocals sounded smooth and detailed, and there was this sense of limitless air around the instruments that I rarely hear in satellite speakers. On Queen of the Stone Age's "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret," all of the instruments sounded clear and distinct in their respective parts of the soundstage.

All told, the Mod1 speakers are incredible-sounding satellites as long as you pair them with a powered subwoofer. Orb Audio clearly makes the Super Eight sub for a reason. It's not like some subwoofer-satellite systems, where you can get away without a subwoofer for a while and still enjoy a little bass punch out of the satellites. Here, there's virtually none. As long as you're fine with that, the Mod1 delivers on just about all other counts. And when combined with the Super Eight, you get a full-range system that looks good and sounds amazing.

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About the Author

Jamie Lendino is the Editor-in-Chief of ExtremeTech.com, and has written for PCMag.com and the print magazine since 2005. Recently, Jamie ran the consumer electronics and mobile teams at PCMag, and before that, he was the Editor-in-Chief of Smart Device Central, PCMag's dedicated smartphone site, for its entire three-year run from 2006 to 2009. Pri... See Full Bio

Orb Audio Mod1

Orb Audio Mod1

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